The 7 Best Laptop Cooling Pads of 2021

Keep your laptop from overheating and shutting down

Updated on January 23, 2020

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The Rundown

Best Overall:

Thermaltake Massive CL-N002-PL12BL-A at Amazon

"Powered by dual 120mm fans putting out 1000 RPM, the fans can be manually or automatically adjusted."

Best Budget:

TopMate Laptop Cooler at Amazon

"Adds an efficient way to assist with airflow at a budget-friendly price."

Best for Quietness:

Kootek Laptop Cooling Pad at Amazon

"The strong construction offers a whisper-quiet design that’s distraction-free."

Best for Gaming:

HAVIT 5 Fan at Amazon

"With five fans, the HAVIT 5 is more than capable of handling long-term gaming sessions, providing a total of 65 CFM airflow without making a sound."

Best Splurge:

Thermaltake Laptop Notebook Cooling Pad at Amazon

"A great choice for its balance of unique style and superb cooling power."

Best for Portability:

Havit HV-F2056 at Amazon

"The metal mesh design is lightweight and stable with a wear-resisting surface that won’t show marks even after years of use."

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The Thermaltake Massive laptop cooling pad is composed of a durable plastic and has three different height adjustment angles for better ergonomics, but it’s the rest of the cooling pad that really stands out. Powered by dual 120mm fans putting out 1000 RPM, the fans can be manually or automatically adjusted for maximizing the cooling effect. Four adjustable temperature sensors are displayed on a multifunction screen that can read the heat on various points on your laptop and alert you when you need to activate or accelerate fan speed to cool it down. A turbo button automatically offers max power and a lock button reduces the chances you can unknowingly alter fan speed while in use.

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The TopMate laptop cooler adds an efficient way to assist with airflow at a budget-friendly price. The dual 140mm fans offer 1000 RPM of power and the fans are placed along the bottom of the laptop areas most prone to overheating. The ultra slim and wide combination allows the .99-inch thick cooling pad to support between 10 to 16-inch laptops, including Apple’s MacBook, MacBook Air and Pro lineup.

Beyond cooling, the TopMate adds a small rise in the rear for extra ergonomic support allowing for a more comfortable typing and viewing experience. And when it comes to power, the TopMate isn’t dependent on its own battery, instead, it relies on plugging directly into a laptop for juice. Fortunately, an extra USB port is included for making sure you don’t lose the ability to add third-party toggles or devices. The plastic build has been drop tested thousands of times for extended durability.

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The Kootek laptop cooling pad has five built-in fans (a 5.9-inch main fan and 2.76-inch smaller fans) that power up to 1000 RPM. You can even choose the number of fans you want to work together, which allows for total flexibility. The pad doubles as a laptop stand and has six height-adjustable options alongside an anti-slip bottom for maintaining stability on a desk no matter what position the Kootek is in. The strong construction offers a whisper-quiet design that’s distraction free whether you’re gaming, writing a paper or getting that presentation ready for your boss. With dual-USB hubs, the Kootek adds the option to connect even more USB devices alongside your laptop for multipurpose activity.

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Gaming laptops can churn out a lot of heat, so they need a particularly strong pad to keep them cool during play. With five fans, the HAVIT 5 is more than capable of handling long-term gaming sessions, providing a total of 65 CFM airflow without making a sound. The pad is made from high-quality metal mesh which was designed to draw heat away from the laptop. It also features a non-slip baffle to keep your device securely in place and is wide enough to accommodate laptops from 14 to 17 inches. On the backside, it features two adjustable legs that prop your laptop up at a small incline, offering a more comfortable typing experience. The HAVIT also includes two USB ports to connect accessories, like a mouse and keyboard—however, these inputs cannot support hard disks or other high-powered devices.

Users, as a whole, are impressed with the HAVIT's effectiveness, stating that their laptops remain cool to the touch even after hours of use. The fans’ speed can be adjusted with a small wheel on the side of the cooling pad, and even at the highest setting, they remain completely silent. A few reviewers have complained about the product breaking down after a few months of use, but those instances are few and far between. The HAVIT weighs only 1.8 pounds and measures 15.9 x 11.8 inches long.

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Equipped for laptops of all shapes and sizes, the Thermaltake’s massive laptop cooling pad is a great choice for its balance of unique style and superb cooling power. Thermaltake’s five unique LED lighting schemes (Wave, RGB Spectrum, Pulse, Blink and Full Lighted) are controlled via the built-in control panel, which lets users choose a color mode as well as adjust the fan speed. The steel mesh surface hides a large 200mm silent fan that creates optimal airflow underneath your laptop, no matter what kind of multitasking is taking place. Whether it’s for gaming or working on multiple spreadsheets at once, the Thermaltake fan keeps your machine cool.

This pad also has ergonomic support with three adjustable height settings for customized viewing and typing angles that are easier on the eyes and the wrists. The Thermaltake is powered directly from a laptop’s USB port and can run indefinitely as long as the laptop is plugged in or has enough battery.

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Sleek and slim at just 1.2 inches thick, the Havit HV-F2056 cooling pad offers an ultra-portable way to cool your laptop while on the go. With two adjustable height settings, the Havit, like most laptop cooling pads, offers some semblance of ergonomic support. The laptop can be propped up just enough to take some pressure off your back and spine. The three 110mm fans spinning at 1000 RPM do a great job of reducing noise and thereby eliminating as much distraction as possible. The metal mesh design is lightweight and stable with a wear-resisting surface that won’t show marks even after years of use. Plugging directly into a laptop for power, the Havit can run as long as your laptop has battery life.

What to Look for in a Laptop Cooling Pad

Cooling power - How much cooling power do you need? That depends on what you’re using your machine for. If you’re a gamer or doing high-performance video editing, you need a lot more cooling power than someone who’s just checking email and surfing the internet. Cooling power is typically related to the number of fans the cooling pad has.

Viewing angles - Most laptop cooling pads are made to be used at a desk, rather than on your lap. But, when sitting at a desk, if you always have your machine on top of a cooling pad, you may want to look at one that offers different viewing angles. This is because, if you don’t have an external monitor, looking down or sideways at your laptop isn’t ergonomic.

Laptop size - Whether you have a tiny 11-inch laptop or a giant 17-inch one, you need to make sure that the cooling pad you buy fits, and is capable of properly cooling your machine. Make sure you check cooling pad dimensions to ensure it’s suitable for your laptop.

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